The Six System of Indian Philosophy

ABOUT THE BOOK The six system of Indian philosophy Vedanta or Uttarmimansa, Purva mimansa, Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisheshika-occupy an important place in India's stinking principle. Though they differ from each other and criticize each other, they share nevertheless so many things in common and we can understand them as products of one and the same soil though cultivated by different Acharya’s.

All the six systems of thought promise to teach the nature of soul, and its relation to Supreme Being. They all undertake to supply the means of knowing the nature of that Supreme Being, and through that knowledge to pave the way to liberation and Supreme happiness. They all share the conviction that there is suffering in the world and that has to be removed.

The present study by Max Muller is a comprehensive analysis of all the six schools of Indian thought. The schools of Indian thought. This book has been thoroughly revised and edited with a Foreword by the present editor.

PREFACE India is uniquely positioned to cater to the whole world a rich pool of ancient wisdom, knowledge and traditions.. It is for millions of years that India has remained the cen tre of the thoughts of philosophy and reflections on spirituality. The power and profundity of her mind and the purity of her soul was the hallmark of India. In the words of Max Muller: 'If I were asked under what sky the hu man mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India." Though flowing in very different directions, like the Ganges and the Indus, the systems of Indian philosophy can be traced back to the same distant heights from which they took their rise. Nowhere else has the lust for philosophy been so strong as in India. Pythagoras, Parmenides and Plato seem to have been influenced by Indian metaphysics. With the Hindus, Philosophy is not an ornament or a recreation, but a major interest and practice of life itself; and the sages received in India the honor bestowed in the West upon men of wealth or action. It is learnt from the Upanishads how Janaka, the King of Vindhes, as part of a religious feast, set one day apart for a philosophical disputation among Yajnavalkya, Ashavala, Artabhāga and Gärgi. The king gave a reward of a thousand cows and many pieces of gold to the victor.

In India thee is indeed sufficient material to learn about the origin and growth of philosophical ideas, but hardly any for studying the lives or characters of those who founded the philosophical systems of that country. It was the usual course for a philosophical teacher in India to speak rather than to write. The whole of India's an cient literature is divided into two parts, Shrutam, what was heard, and Smritam, what was remembered. Shrutam or Shruti (revelation) came afterwards to mean what has been revealed while Smritam or Smriti (tradition) com prised all that was recognized as possessing human authority only. The literature of the Hindus such as the hymns of the Rigveda is said to be the revelation of a higher power, commonly called Brahman. The philosophy that is now in possession in short aphorisms of Sutras belongs to Smriti or tradition. In Sutras each system of Indian philosphy whether Samkhya of Kapila, Yoga of Patanjali, Nyaya of Gautama, Vaishesika of Kanāda, Vedanta of Badarayana, or Parva-Mimämsä of Jaimini is complete in itself. There is no topic within the sphere of philosophy which does not find a straightforward treatment in these short aphorisms. When these aphorisms present abstracts of the various systems of Indian philosophy, the last stage of Vedic period, as represented in the Upanishads, previous to the Sutras, is, in fact, the most valuable to give an insight into the early growth of Indian philosophic thought where the terms like Brahman, Atman, Dharma, Vrata, Yoga, Mimânsă, etc. are expounded. Max Muller writes: ".....India was fertilized, not only by Ganges and Indus, but by ever so many rivers and rivulets, all pointing to the snowy mountains in the north, we can see the Indian mind also being nourished through ever so many channels, all starting from a vast accumulation of religious and philosophic thought of which we seem to see the last remnants only in our Upanishads....."

**Contents and Sample Pages**